Frequency of micronuclei and other abnormalities in buccal epithelial cells in strawberry farmers in the city of Areguá
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18004/rcfacen.2025.16.1.049Keywords:
genotoxicology, cell damage, micronuclei, buccal epithelium, strawberry farmersAbstract
With global growth comes an increase in food production and, consequently, the use of pesticides that can affect human health. The study of the oral epithelium of farmers could reveal evidence of genetic damage due to occupational exposure. Considering such characteristics, it is important to carry out this study to evaluate the effect in a simple, fast and inexpensive way; by means of the micronucleus test (MN) and detection of nuclear abnormalities (NA). The population evaluated consisted of strawberry farmers from the city of Areguá, Central, Paraguay. The control group consisted of 26 individuals and the exposed group 22 individuals. The statistical analysis was performed with SPSS Statistics 23. The exposed group was compared with the non-exposed group, in relation to the behavior of each of the survey variables, using a univariate analysis of variance. Subsequently, Student's t test was applied to compare the significance of DNA damage between the two groups. No statistically significant differences were detected between the two groups studied for variables such as: Broken Egg, Pignosis, Karyorrhexis and Binucleated. However, the exposed group presents a significant statistical difference for Micronuclei and Karyolysis (p<0.05), this shows a greater cellular damage for this group. This may be due to factors such as the lifestyle of this social group, their prolonged exposure to agrochemicals, the sun and the lack of basic protection during the handling of chemical agents.
References
Benítez-Leite, S., Macchi, M.L., Fernández, V., Franco, D., Ferro, E.A., Mojoli, A., Cuevas, J.A. & Sales, L. (2010). Daño celular en una población infantil potencialmente expuesta a pesticidas. Pediatría (Asunción), 37(2): 97–106.
Bonassi, S., El-Zein, R., Bolognesi, C. & Fenech, M. (2011). Micronuclei frequency in peripheral blood lymphocytes and cancer risk: evidence from human studies. Mutagenesis, 26(1): 93–100. .
Fernández, V., Gómez, F., Jara York, J., Gómez, A., Fernández, D.R., Sales de Lima, L., Bobadilla, N., Benítez, M., López, D. & Barboza, C. (2012). Evaluación genotóxica en pacientes con cáncer de tiroides sometidos a iodoterapia. BAG Journal of Basic and Applied Genetics, 23(Supl. 1): 344–345.
Gómez Grance, F.J., Fernández, V., Guggiari, G., Resquin, T., Cabañas Duarte, F., Gómez, A. & Alfonso, J. (2010). Dosimetría biológica basada en la detección de micronúcleos en pacientes expuestos a cobaltoterapia en Paraguay. Reportes Científicos de la Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, 1(1): 80–89.
Hei, T.K. & Filipic, M. (2004). Role of oxidative damage in the genotoxicity of arsenic. Free Radical Biology and Medicine, 37(5): 574–581. <https://doi.org/10.1016/j. freeradbiomed.2004.02.003>.
Ortega Martínez, L.D., Martínez Valenzuela, C., Waliszewski, S.M., Ocampo Mendoza, J., Huichapan Martínez, J., El Kassis, E., Soto Ruiz, G. & Pérez Armendáriz, B. (2017). Nivel tecnológico de invernadero y riesgo para la salud de los jornaleros. Nova Scientia, 9(18): 21–42. .
Segovia, J., Castiglioni, D., Fernández, V. & Franco, D. (2007). Evaluación citotóxica y genotóxica de células de mucosa bucal de personas ocupacionalmente expuestas a contaminantes de fotocopiadoras. Investigaciones y Estudios de la Universidad Nacional de Asunción, 3: 45–52. Squier, C.A. & Kremer, M.J. (2001). Biology of oral mucosa and esophagus. JNCI Monographs, 2001(29): 7–15. <https://doi.org/10.1093/ oxfordjournals.jncimonographs.a003443>.
Tejedor Cassiani, L. (2011). Biomonitoreo de células bucales a partir de micronúcleos en soladores de metales en Cartagena. (Tesis doctoral). Cartagena: Universidad Nacional de Colombia. 140 pp. .
Tolbert, P.E., Shy, C.M. & Allen, J.W. (1992). Micronuclei and other nuclear anomalies in buccal smears: methods development. Mutation Research/Environmental Mutagenesis and Related Subjects, 271(1): 69–77. <https://doi.org/10.1016/01651161(92)90033-I>.
Torres-Bugarín, O. & Ramos-Ibarra, M.L. (2013). Utilidad de la Prueba de Micronúcleos y Anormalidades Nucleares en Células Exfoliadas de Mucosa Oral en la Evaluación de Daño Genotóxico y Citotóxico. International Journal of Morphology, 31(2): 650–657. <https://dx.doi.org/10.4067/ S0717-95022013000200050>.
Todo el contenido de esta revista está bajo una 